When Modi "invoked" President Ram Nath Kovind's caste to woo OBC Koli votes off Somanth and Jasdan

President at Ghela Somnath temple, near Jasdan, Sept 4

There is strong flutter among Sangh Parivar insiders. For the first time, they have begun conceding, the party's Hindutva agenda is falling apart, that too in a state which has been it's political lab since mid-1980s. Riding on this agenda, based on which the party ruled Gujarat for 22 years, Narendra Modi stirringly emerged on the national canvas in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, winning comfortable majority.
"I am not suggesting that the BJP would lose in the state assembly polls, which end on December 14. It would retain power, even if with a reduced majority", an insightful Sangh insider, who has been watching the electoral scene from close quarters for about a month, told Counterview. "Our concern is totally different. Instead of Hindutva, which seeks to unite all Hindus under one umbrella, what we see is a direct effort to woo castes for electoral gains."
Calling it a "matter of concern for the BJP and it's ideology", this insider said, "It's not just the Congress which has been using caste for electoral gains. Rahul Gandhi in his new avatar successfully wooed Patels, OBC Thakores and Dalits by organizing an anti-BJP coalition through Hardik Patel, Alpesh Thakore and Jignesh Mevani. But, more importantly, as a reaction, of all persons, Modi was forced to woo voters on caste line."
"Thus", said this insider, who is attached with a Sangh-controlled propaganda network at the very top, "I and my colleagues noticed to our complete surprise that, at least at two different places, in Jasdan and Prachi near Somanth, while addressing audience, Modi seemed to invoke the support of the second biggest OBC group of Gujarat, Kolis, by telling them that he has installed a Koli as the President of India."
Agreeing that no President of India was ever dragged in an electoral battle by invoking caste, the insider said, "Addressing a sizeable audience of Kolis, Modi told them in Jasdan that even the President of India is a Koli, and they now have an easy access to the Rashtrapati Bhawan. Giving another example at Prachi, he told them, mostly fishermen, that their welfare programmes were launched by a Koli President, Ram Nath Kovind."

Hardik Patel's rally in Ahmedabad, Dec 11

Conceding that Modi's image of a Hindutva icon remains strong in big cities, especially in Ahmedabad and Vadodara, the insider said, "Even in urban areas, I and my colleagues noticed, this iconic image is starting to erode, and a major reason behind this is Hardik Patel's unprecedented support... In fact, this election has turned into Modi versus Hardik, with Rahul playing a crucial role in building an alliance with the latter."
"One of the biggest mistakes of the BJP government in Gujarat was police firing at the agitating Patels, who had gathered for their stand strong pro-quota rally in Ahmedabad a year ago, in which several youths died. Hardik's men distributed the CD in tens of lakhs across the state among Patels. On watching the CD, Patel women, we noticed, particularly became emotionally charged", the insider said.
Asked whether the sex CD on Hardik, said to have been distributed by the Patel leader's opponents in order to morally slay him, had any negative impact, the insider noted, "It has gone against the BJP. Ordinary Patels we talked to blamed BJP president Amit Shah for engineering a conspiracy against their young community leader. Not without reason, the plan to release more CDs, though announced, had to be abandoned."
Pointing out the persecution of Hardik -- his arrest and cases against him -- further exacerbated the anti-BJP feeling, the insider said, "In fact, what one is witnessing is, Patels as a community, consisting of 15% of Gujarat, seemed to have gone against the party. Exhorting to vote against the BJP, Hardik attracted a much bigger crowd than Modi, and all spontaneous."
As for Modi, on the other hand, he said, he would have to wait for one to three for people to pour in for his rallies, "yet one could witness empty chairs in large numbers... He wouldn't recall his two of his top steps, demonetization and GST, except at Morbi, whose small industries, he said, stood to gain from the concessions his government was forced to give."
As for the Hindutva agenda, such as "Congress should clarify whether it wants Mandir or Masjid", or the accusation of a "secret meeting" at Mani Shankar Iyar's residence with Pakistani diplomats to defeat BJP in Gujarat, the insider said, "It also had, if at all, a negative impact. To his surprise, it didn't pick up, as the Congress didn't react after former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's strongly worded statement about the meeting."

Comments

When Pakistanis whispered: ‘end military rule’ — A Moscow memoir

During the recent anti-terror operation inside Pakistan by the Government of India, called Operation Sindoor — a name some feminists consider patently patriarchal, even though it’s officially described as a tribute to the wives of the 26 husbands killed in the terrorist strike — I was reminded of my Moscow stint, which lasted for seven long years, from 1986 to 1993.

Ahmedabad's civic chaos: Drainage woes, waterlogging, and the illusion of Olympic dreams

In response to my blog on overflowing gutter lines at several spots in Ahmedabad's Vejalpur, a heavily populated area, a close acquaintance informed me that it's not just the middle-class housing societies that are affected by the nuisance. Preeti Das, who lives in a posh locality in what is fashionably called the SoBo area, tells me, "Things are worse in our society, Applewood."

Tracking a lost link: Soviet-era legacy of Gujarati translator Atul Sawani

The other day, I received a message from a well-known activist, Raju Dipti, who runs an NGO called Jeevan Teerth in Koba village, near Gujarat’s capital, Gandhinagar. He was seeking the contact information of Atul Sawani, a translator of Russian books—mainly political and economic—into Gujarati for Progress Publishers during the Soviet era. He wanted to collect and hand over scanned soft copies, or if possible, hard copies, of Soviet books translated into Gujarati to Arvind Gupta, who currently lives in Pune and is undertaking the herculean task of collecting and making public soft copies of Soviet books that are no longer available in the market, both in English and Indian languages.

RP Gupta a scapegoat to help Govt of India manage fallout of Adani case in US court?

RP Gupta, a retired 1987-batch IAS officer from the Gujarat cadre, has found himself at the center of a growing controversy. During my tenure as the Times of India correspondent in Gandhinagar (1997–2012), I often interacted with him. He struck me as a straightforward officer, though I never quite understood why he was never appointed to what are supposed to be top-tier departments like industries, energy and petrochemicals, finance, or revenue.

Environmental report raises alarm: Sabarmati one of four rivers with nonylphenol contamination

A new report by Toxics Link , an Indian environmental research and advocacy organisation based in New Delhi, in collaboration with the Environmental Defense Fund , a global non-profit headquartered in New York, has raised the alarm that Sabarmati is one of five rivers across India found to contain unacceptable levels of nonylphenol (NP), a chemical linked to "exposure to carcinogenic outcomes, including prostate cancer in men and breast cancer in women."

PharmEasy: The only online medical store which revises prices upwards after confirming the order

For senior citizens — especially those without a family support system — ordering medicines online can be a great relief. Shruti and I have been doing this for the last couple of years, and with considerable success. We upload a prescription, receive a verification call from a doctor, and within two or three days, the medicines are delivered to our doorstep.

A conman, a demolition man: How 'prominent' scribes are defending Pritish Nandy

How to defend Pritish Nandy? That’s the big question some of his so-called fans seem to ponder, especially amidst sharp criticism of his alleged insensitivity during his journalistic career. One such incident involved the theft and publication of the birth certificate of Masaba Gupta, daughter of actor Neena Gupta, in the Illustrated Weekly of India, which Nandy was editing at the time. He reportedly did this to uncover the identity of Masaba’s father.

Revisiting Gijubhai: Pioneer of child-centric education and the caste debate

It was Krishna Kumar, the well-known educationist, who I believe first introduced me to the name — Gijubhai Badheka (1885–1939). Hailing from Bhavnagar, known as the cultural capital of the Saurashtra region of Gujarat, Gijubhai, Kumar told me during my student days, made significant contributions to the field of pedagogy — something that hasn't received much attention from India's education mandarins. At that time, Kumar was my tutorial teacher at Kirorimal College, Delhi University.

A sector under siege? War and real estate: Navigating uncertainty in India's expanding market

I was a little surprised when I received an email alert from a top real estate consultant, Anarock Group , titled "Exploring War’s Effects on Indian Real Estate—When Conflict Meets Concrete," authored by its regional director and head of research, Dr. Prashant Thakur. I had thought that the business would wholeheartedly support what is considered a strong response to the dastardly terrorist attack in Pahalgam, Operation Sindoor.

Search This Blog